


History

by ClaraDiamondsong



Series: Star Stable Old West AU [1]
Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/M, Gen, SSO Wild West AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-27 00:36:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13869345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaraDiamondsong/pseuds/ClaraDiamondsong
Summary: Somewhat of Clara's backstory for the Old West AU which is a concept originally established by clightlee!





	History

**Author's Note:**

> Nothing extremely explicit but minor violence / injury and implied sexual history.

Josh sighed as he swiped the sweat off his forehead and put down the brush he was using. He took half a step back to admire a solid afternoon’s handiwork on the gleaming black coat in front of him. It hadn’t been easy, as the thoroughbred stallion danced away from him, to and fro in limited room the cross ties of the small wood barn in which he was kept gave him. Josh moved to the horse’s front and grabbed hold of a piece of the rope halter close to the horse’s muzzle, despondently looking in his own reflection in the stallion’s eyes, “I really thought you’d calm down by now. Or at least be calmer."

Paladin tossed his head and shuffled nervously away from Josh, who kept a somewhat strong hold on the halter. He untied the side ropes and walked the dancing horse back to his stall. The horse had been out in a pen almost two days straight, galloping along the sides, rolling in the dust, and bucking around to his heart’s content. Josh wanted him in and clean for tomorrow though, and he led Paladin into his stall and slipped off the halter. He back up quickly and shut the door before the stallion could muscle his way through, lord knows he was strong enough. As he checked to make sure the door was latched nice and tight, he strolled across the barn aisle to another horse: a small deep golden Haflinger gelding who eagerly reached his head over the stall door as Josh approached. Josh smiled as he scratched the little horse’s head, grabbing a small apple from his pocket and feeding it to him. A shuffled sets of footsteps alerted Josh’s attention to the front of the barn aisle.

"Almost 3 years later and I still don’t know why you’re putting almost all your wages into boarding two horses. Even if it is the small barn, you know how much you could save selling that crazy thing?” a gruff voice said, gestering to the pacing black horse. Thomas Moorland, proprietor of the large cattle ranch in which Josh lived and worked, stood in the frame of the barn door, arms crossed. “It’s not like she’s coming back you know,” he continued.

Josh shook his head, “Sorry Mr. Moorland. I made a promise to Caroline I’d take care of that horse until either it or I die. And I don’t think either of us are looking to do that any time soon."

“She made you promise that because she knew you were a lovestruck fool with grandiose ideas of marrying her daughter. That old woman just didn’t want to be reminded of a deceased son and a disowned daughter. Unless you’re secretly looking to get put into the will to take ownership of the Diamondsong land when she and old Sully die, you’d best get that horse off your hands and move on with your life.” He felt bad for the young man, standing in the aisle of the smallest barn on his property, but he’d danced around the conversation long enough; he thought it was time for some tough love.

Thomas remembered the accident that most would say was the first step to Clara’s bad habits and ultimately the reason she would end up running away from home for good. He looked at the big brute taking up most of his stall. The Diamondsongs were a prominent family in New Jorvik. Matriarch Caroline Diamondsong was prim and proper, never seen with a hair out of place and patriarch Sullivan was an intelligent gentleman with good horse sense, a swift hand with a gun, and a head for numbers. Caroline had come from money, Sullivan had not and they prided themselves on their strong reputation and status around town. Paladin had been a gift for Clara’s older brother Sam, an expensive purchase from a man called Ferdinand, who had a traveling horse market. Ferdinand bred and procured some of the nicest horses New Jorvik would ever see, but he only came around a few times a year so it was quite the town to do when he and his wife Eddie came up to set up a shop for a few weeks. Clara, ever the bright eyed, bold young teenager and her older brother set out early in the morning to see all the pretty ponies. They would be joined by their father, Sullivan, and a few of their friends, Josh included. At just over 17 Sam was the oldest in the bunch, Thomas thought he remembered, and he was extremely arrogant and stubborn. When he found the wild eyed young stallion in the far corner of the market, Sam knew he was going to be his.

~~~

“This one,” he demanded confidently in front of everyone around him, directly to his father. 

“I don’t know Sam, looks a little green to me,” Sullivan said, looking the colt up and down.

“Not only is he green, thing’s wilder than ,” Ferdinand said, extending a hand out to Sullivan, “How’re you doing my friend? Haven’t seen you the last few times I’ve been out here.”

“Been here and there, believe we were out ,” he replied, “Now back to the horse, what can you tell me about him?”

Ferdinand sighed, “An expensive mistake of mine I’m afraid. Name’s Paladin, picked him up at auction, 4 of us were crazy about him. You could tell he was high strung, but they had him cleaned up, touted his bloodlines too, racing horses back in England or something. Thought I’d be able to double his price in a day but I’d be lucky to not take a loss on him at this point.”

Sam was hooked, “Dad, you know I can handle any horse I look at. I rode the Devil’s Gap tackless on a half broke mare in the fastest time anyone’s ever seen! This old thing won’t be any trouble at all,” he pleaded. He couldn’t back down at this point. 

Ferdinand looked dead in Sullivan’s eyes, “You’ve known me for quite a few years Sullivan, and you also know ‘honest’ and 'horse trader’ are not used together frequently. But when I say this horse is wild, untrustworthy, and possibly dangerous, you should know that isn’t a lie. Your son’s a fine rider I’m sure, you know him and his abilities better than ever will, but I don’t want to cause any trouble. Sometimes I think he’d be better off let loose to run free. I’ll sell him to you, he needs a firm hand and a clear head, but unlike most of my horses, I cannot guarantee this horse will ever be fully broke."

Clara had been watching this unfold the whole time, hoping and wishing the elegant horse would be stabled with them tonight. She saw the wild in the horse’s eyes, but she believed in her brother, and it was true, there wasn’t a horse he couldn’t break in under two days.

Sullivan looked at the horse trader, then back in his son, who had crossed him arms and looked more annoyed as every second passed, “I appreciate your honestly Ferdinand, that’s why I like to buy from you. You told me about Clover’s bad hock and the fact that Noble was deathly afraid of crossing water,” and he looked at his son and smiled, “But I do know my son, and I think this horse would be an excellent birthday present.” 

Sam jumped and cheered, not paying mind to the fact he had spooked the horse backward. Sullivan and Ferdinand stepped off to work out the business and Clara ran to hug her brother. Both were thinking about how once this horse was tamed a bit, he’d be the fanciest in all of New Jorvik, a real talk of the town. Maybe Sam would be able to competitions with him. Definitely ride nobly through town as he brought in criminals and outlaws or rescued maidens. 

But it wouldn’t be like that at all. 

After months traveling with the market and little room to run around, Paladin galloped around the open pasture and wouldn’t let anyone catch him for almost two weeks. When they finally got him in, he wouldn’t stand tied and broke a fence post struggling to get free. It took weeks to get him saddled and he had to use a rope halter as a bridle because they couldn’t keep the bit in his mouth. But the more the stallion fought back, the more Sam’s pride took over, and he kept going. Paladin threw the boy off dozens of times, until one time it got the best of him.

The last time Sam fell off Paladin rammed into the fence, crushing the boy’s leg against a tall post, then quickly spun around and threw him as he landed on the same leg, causing Sam to land in a crumpled mess with a shattered right leg. Sullivan rushed in the paddock, as he and a ranch hand struggled to get the boy in the house. Clara, who had been inside, saw everything. It was all a blur from that moment on, and even though they were able to call a doctor in, Sam had lost a lot of blood and they couldn’t get his leg to set properly. The leg got infected and Sam would die from the fracture. Paladin was left alone in a small paddock on far corner of the ranch, and while Sullivan wanted the horse destroyed, he was the last thing Clara could connect to her brother and wouldn't let him. She visited the horse every day, imagining a piece of her brother left with him. She eventually got him to walk on a rope, but still couldn't put tack on him and wouldn't dare to sit him on either.

From that point on, Clara was never the same. A bitterness had consumed her, and she took to rebelling out in any way she could. She stopped attending lessons, she committed petty thefts, and would even run away until someone would bring her back. This went on for almost three years before she slipped out in the middle of the night with two full saddlebags of supplies and disappeared from the Diamondsong Ranch forever to a place no one could find her. The town would get updates of her crimes, being increasingly incriminating, and eventually the sheriff would have to put a wanted poster in his office The Diamonsongs were disgusted and announced to anyone that asked she'd been fully disowned. In secret though, the empty house had been killing them, and they were confident one day Clara would come home, atone for her sins, and work her way back into the hearts of the people of New Jorvik.

~~~

“It’s her birthday tomorrow,” Josh called out to Thomas who stopped in his tracks and sighed. He turned back to look back at Josh, “So?”

Josh looked down at his feet, “She came back around this time last year, stayed with me a few nights. She said she wanted to come back into town again, see me, lay low. I showed her Paladin and she gushed at how good he looked. The last night she said she wanted to come back, she was done on the road. I figured if maybe she’d come back, it’d be at the same time last year but she’d stay longer."

Thomas’s heart broke a little more. Even if what she said was true, Clara’s crimes were racked against her, there’d be no redemption for her in this town or any other close by. But it seemed like there wasn’t getting through to Josh, at least not today. Thomas could only reply, “Well, maybe you’re right, son. Who would I be to tell you otherwise?"

~~~

Somewhere out in the mountains a few days ride away from New Jorvik, Clara Diamondsong sat cross-legged in front of a fire, surrounded by the tall walls of the Rogues’ Gallery canyon. She sighed, leaning back on her hands and staring up at the bright tapestry of colors in the twilight sky. Half of the Rogues’ Gallery was starting to wake up, waiting for the night to drop before heading out to fill their dastardly needs. The chaos had woken her up from her wandering mind, where she was caught up thinking about her past. She had everything she thought she wanted, but there was an emptiness she just couldn't fill.


End file.
